Richard Krupp stands in front of the barn the resort celebration took place in over the weekend.  Krupp is now retired but has been a very active member of the Twin Lakes community. (Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette)

TWIN LAKES — The citizens of Twin Lakes celebrated the founder of Krupp’s Resort with a party and food as they gathered to honor the man himself, Richard Krupp. The gathering on Saturday afternoon saw friends share their stories with Krupp and the memories made at the resort which range anywhere from gathering around the lake on starry nights, fishing all day out on the lake and snowmobiling on the nearby trails all day.

It was actually Krupp’s love of snowmobiling began the idea of starting his own resort. After growing tired of working in a factory in northern Indiana, Krupp wanted to make his living on something he enjoyed.

“I always was a snowmobile fanatic,” he said. “And I wanted to buy a resort or someplace where we could go snowmobiling and entertain people that wanted to snowmobile.”

Krupp purchased the resort in 1994 due to the high volume of snow that regularly falls in the area to keep business alive but he had also wanted to make sure whatever property he bought had water nearby. Krupp wanted property that would offer visitors something to do in the summer and fall months as well, and the lake offers fishing and watersports. In the fall the resort is an attractive stay for hunters, and Krupp himself had become interested in bear hunting when the hunters started staying in the cabins. Krupp became very involved with the local community once he had established himself there, and even served Twin Lakes for 20 years as a fireman. He also provided the community with another way to bond over his favorite hobby by forming the Superior Snowmobile Club.

Krupp’s wife, Sandy, had passed away in 2017. That was when he had decided it was time to retire. In 2018, Krupp had found someone to trust to take care of and continue on the resort, Cassandra Coponen. Coponen was looking to own her own business in a place where she could be with her children with boundless activities, and taking on the resort seemed to fill those needs. After many meetings with Krupp she took it on, but left his name intact.

“It was a bit nerve wracking,” Coponen said. “Because I wanted to make sure I could uphold his name for what he did to this area and what he was known for. But I also wanted to keep the name for his honor, and everybody knew it as Krupp’s. And so it’s kind of hard to take away something that’s been like an icon in our area. So I just do my best to make sure I can keep it going and the doors open and people coming back and enjoying it.”

Coponen was the one who had organized the gathering because she wanted to show Krupp how thankful everyone is for what he had done for Twin Lakes. She said that he has done so much for the area by keeping the resort running for over 20 years. Now that Coponen keeps Krupp’s Resort running, Krupp has been enjoying retirement out on his house off the lake where he will indulge in fishing.